Mom's Banana Muffins

Well hi there! It’s been a long time since a new recipe was posted on the site. Most of my time has been spent over on my newsletter in the last two years, and also adjusting to moving to London, UK (big life change!). This year I’m going to try to get some of the newsletter recipes up here on the site so they are easier to find, and also get back to publishing more regularly here. So first up is my go-to recipe for when I have overripe bananas - it’s a bit easier to manage than banana loaf when living alone because the individual muffins freeze well.

This recipe is a riff on the banana muffin recipe my mom has been following for years out of the aptly named cookbook “Muffin Mania” by Cathy Prange and Joan Pauli. We’ve cut back on the white sugar because the ripe bananas add quite a bit of sweetness, and swapping in some almond flour helps with these staying moist but also a bit more filling.

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Mom's Banana Muffins

Yield 12 muffins, 45 mins total including baking time

Ingredients:

• 3 large bananas, very ripe

• ½ cup white sugar

• 1 egg

• ⅓ cup melted butter

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (I like swapping ¼ cup for almond flour)

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp salt

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Prep muffin tins with muffin liners or grease well.

2. Mash bananas in a large bowl and add in the sugar and slightly beaten egg. Fold in the melted butter. 

3. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. 

4. Scoop into lined muffin tins. 

5. Bake at 375F for 25-35 mins until deep brown.

Bean and Corn Dip

This recipe is far from original - if you google “Texas Caviar” or “Cowboy Caviar” you’ll find tons of recipes for a similar dip. I first had this when my roommate back in 2014 made it for her sister’s birthday (hi Renee!). I am such a sucker for “fresh” appetizers at parties - veggie trays, anything with cucumber, salad rolls, etc. I think it’s because I’m always slightly dehydrated? Appetizers with lots of fresh flavour I gravitate towards. I remember the night I first tried this I kept going back for more. It’s tangy, fresh, and slightly addictive. I’ve been making versions of this recipe ever since and it’s always such a hit. It also keeps for 4-5 days in the fridge, and IMO gets better with time as the flavours sit together. I love it for lunches with tortilla chips, on top of a taco salad, or in wraps. It is also so great for summer parties because the frozen corn kind of cools it from within. I hope you enjoy this tasty bean dip for your next get-together!

Tips

Small Dice Your Veggies for Optimal Dipping Experience

This dip is great scooped up with tortilla chips so you want to make sure your veggie pieces are small enough so you get lots of variety in each bite.

Frozen Corn

I personally just like to add the corn frozen straight into the dip, and then let it thaw once mixed. I find it doesn’t take time to thaw and it keeps everything else a little cool while it sits at room temperature. If you are making this right before serving, you could cook the frozen corn according to the package and then let it cool to room temp before mixing with everything else. 

Dicing Tomatoes

I like to remove the seeds so the dip isn’t too ‘soupy’. To do this I cut the tomato into quarters and use a spoon to scoop out the watery seed parts. I then dice the flesh of the tomato.

Bean Substitutions

I have accidentally made this dip with chickpeas, kidney beans, and white beans (I have trouble reading bean can labels). All turned out great! I think any canned bean works here.

Storing

This keeps well in the fridge for 4-5 days in an airtight container. I sometimes make this the day before serving so it marinates overnight.

All the veggies chopped pre-mixing!

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Bean and Corn Dip

Good for a crowd, 20 min prep

Ingredients:

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can lentils, drained and rinsed

1 cup frozen corn

2-3 medium tomatoes, fine diced (I like to remove the seeds so it’s not too soupy but you don’t have to fuss about this)

1 pepper (red, orange, yellow, green - whichever colour you prefer), fine diced

3-4 green onions, green parts thinly sliced

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

2 limes, juiced

¼ cup olive oil

¼ tsp kosher salt

Pinch of each ground cumin, garlic powder, chilli powder (adjust to taste)

A few shakes of tabasco or other hot sauce

Optional: a squeeze of honey or maple syrup

Optional: handful of fresh cilantro, diced

Method:

1. In a large bowl combine your drained and rinsed beans and lentils, frozen corn and chopped veggies (tomato, pepper, green onion).

2. In a small bowl or mason jar, combine your apple cider vinegar, lime juice, olive oil, salt, spices and hot sauce. Whisk well to emulsify (or if using a mason jar, seal tightly and shake). 

3. Pour over your bean mixture and mix well to combine. If using cilantro, add it in. 

4. Taste - does it taste good, like you need to take another bite? If not, you may need a pinch more salt. Does it need more spice? Add more tabasco. Need a little more sweetness? You could add a drizzle of honey or maple syrup, or add in more frozen corn!

5. Serve with tortilla chips!

Tortilla Roll-Ups

This recipe is influenced by all the delicious pinwheels/tortilla roll-ups I’ve eaten throughout my life. I feel like every holiday gathering growing up had some form of tortilla roll-up - whether it was a sweet version with cranberries or spicy like these. This is far from an original recipe, just simply my version of the very popular appetizer. I love these with the spice of the pickled jalapeno, freshness of the red pepper and savouriness of the green onion. You can play around with the ratios to get the perfect bite for you depending on how spicy you like your food. These are super easy to make and always go quickly at parties and gatherings. 

A few tips:

Cream Cheese

You can use either the spreadable cream cheese in the tub or the block of cream cheese, both work fine! If using the block, I would let it sit at room temperature for 30 mins to an hour to soften slightly, which will make it easier to mix. 

Making Them Ahead of Time

A few options for prepping these ahead of time:

• You can make the mixture up to 3 days ahead of time and refrigerate that, assembling them the day you are going to serve.

• You can make the mixture and roll up the tortillas, refrigerating well wrapped 1 day ahead of time, then slicing to serve. I wouldn’t roll them up too much more than 1 day ahead of time because you don’t want any moisture getting into the flour tortilla and becoming soggy.

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Tortilla Roll-Ups

Yields 4-6 tortillas x 6-8 bites per, ~36-48 bites!

Ingredients:

1 package of cream cheese - you can do either the hard block or the softer spreadable version

3 green onions, green parts finely diced

½ red pepper (or orange or yellow), finely diced

2-4 tbsp pickled jalapenos, drained and diced

1 cup old cheddar cheese, grated

1 package large flour tortillas (10”)

Pinch of salt and pepper

Method:

1. In a medium bowl combine the cream cheese, green onions, red pepper, pickled jalapeno and cheddar cheese in a bowl and mix together to combine. If easier, you can use an electric hand mixer to mix everything together. Sometimes I use a little bit of the jalapeno liquid to loosen up the mixture - you want it to be spreadable! 

2. Take a taste and adjust - I personally like them medium spicy but you can always add more jalapeno. Season with salt and pepper if needed.

3. After it’s all mixed together, scoop a scant 1/4 cup and spread thinly onto a tortilla, trying to get as close to the edges as possible. Roll tightly. I sometimes have to add a little of the mixture to the top edge to have it close well.

4. You can store them rolled in the fridge covered in plastic wrap and then slice them into 1.5 cm rounds when ready to serve. The ends make for a great *chef snack*.

Tourtiere Bites

I absolutely adore tourtiere and I plan on *finally* publishing my recipe for the real deal this year. I’ve been working on that recipe for 5+ years and it’s so dear to me. I want it to be perfect for everyone so you can enjoy the same warmth and love of each bite that I do, but I think I’ve been kind of stuck trying to make it perfect so it’s time to put it out there! In the meantime, I adapted my recipe for a smaller format, especially since many people’s holidays will be smaller this year. These little bites have all the flavour of the larger pie but come together much more quickly, and don’t require pie dough!

My favourite part of these tourtiere bites is taking the method from baklava where you pour honey syrup while they are still piping hot; pouring the maple syrup over the bites right when they come out of the oven gives a sweet little crust making them extra addictive. 

I hope you enjoy these little bites this holiday season!

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Tourtiere Bites

This yields 16 bites, you could easily double if you have a larger crowd.

1-1.5 hour (30 min prep, 30-40 min cooking)

Tools needed: mini-muffin tray

Ingredients:

1 tsp olive oil

1 small white onion, finely diced  (~½ cup)

1 clove of garlic, minced

½ lb ground pork

⅛ tsp ground nutmeg

⅛ tsp ground cinnamon

1/16 tsp ground clove (I just eyeballed a half of a ⅛ measuring spoon)

Salt and pepper

1 small potato grated (~ 1 cup)

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed (½ a package)

2 tbsp maple syrup

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. Heat a pan to medium-high heat, add the oil and the diced onion and minced garlic. Sautee until softened, about 5-7 minutes.

3. Add in the ground pork and spices, allowing the pork to brown and cook through (you don’t need to disturb it too much). About 5 minutes.

4. Once the pork is cooked, add in the grated potato. There should be enough pork fat in the pan but if needed you can add more olive oil. If it dries out add a tbsp of water. Continue to cook until the potato is tender, about 10 minutes. Season well with salt and pepper (it should taste good when you taste!).

5. Roll out 1 sheet of puff pastry and cut into 16 squares. Place the squares into mini muffin tin and press into the tin leaving the corners hanging. Scoop the filling into the pastry (about 1 tbsp per) until evenly divided. Fold the corners on top of the filling to almost close each mini-pie bite.

6. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the puff pastry is golden brown. Immediately after removing from the oven pour a little maple syrup over each bite - it will sizzle in the pan and soak into the filling/pastry without getting too sticky.

7. Serve warm!

Sweet and Spicy Cauliflower Bites

I am currently home in Halifax for a few months to wait out the winter, so I’ve been enjoying cooking for my parents again. I live alone in Toronto and knew that the winter would be tough in the pandemic without … human contact. While I am home my mom and I are trying to eat more plant-based meals coming off the holidays, which involved a lot of meat and pastries, and pastry wrapped meat. These cauliflower bites are the perfect veggie appetizer, snack or main (paired with a big salad).

Cauliflower has become really trendy in the last few years but I’m kind of ok with it. I find it super filling, and these bites are no exception. It’s also a blank canvas that can take on pretty much any flavour. I also love how cauliflower can become so creamy when cooked through, and these bites pair that creamy texture with a crispy, slightly chewy exterior. 

I am borderline obsessed with these cauliflower bites. I love that they are made in one bowl, and the texture they get without oil or frying makes me very happy. I hate when you have to set up an intense dredging station to get something breaded (one bowl for egg, one bowl for flour, one bowl for crust). It’s worth the effort but sometimes you just don’t want to put in the effort, ya know?

The key to these cauliflower bites is the biscuit-like batter, that when cooked for a super long time gets crispy and holds up against the sauce. The batter completely coats the cauliflower, seeping into all the little crevices, making an almost fritter meets cauliflower bite… bite. 

There are a lot of different directions you could take these bites - Franks Red Hot Sauce paired with ranch to go traditional buffalo style; I am also going to try them out with some spices added to the batter (like chili powder and cumin) to use for cauliflower tacos. But today’s recipe is inspired by flavours of the Vietnamese sauce nuoc cham. Typically nuoc cham includes water so this is a bit more concentrated. I also added in melted butter to allow the sauce to emulsify, helping it coat the cauliflower more evenly and added a bit of richness. The sauce is tangy, sweet and spicy. Topping with fresh herbs or sliced green onion adds some freshness to finish them off.

A few tips:

• Spread out the cauliflower on the cookie sheet to ensure it gets nice and crispy. If you overcrowd the pan, the bites will steam - you need enough space to let the air circulate

• 45 minutes feels like a long time in the high heat but don’t take them out sooner! You want them to deeply cook. They may have some brown bits and that’s ok! That’s just extra flavour.

To serve:

• Best served fresh out of the oven and tossed in the sauce.

• They will keep ok in the fridge, but they may lose some of their crunch the next day but will still be very flavourful. If you can reheat in a toaster oven or the oven vs. the microwave, that will preserve some of the texture.

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Sweet and Spicy Cauliflower Bites

Serves 4-6 appetizer style

15-minute prep, 45-minute cook time

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower, leaves and stem removed, cut into bite-sized pieces

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup panko

1 egg

1/2 tsp kosher salt

½ cup water or milk

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp fish sauce (my favourite brand is Red Boat)

1 tsp sriracha (or other hot sauce/chilli sauce like sambal oelek)

1/4 tsp kosher salt

Juice of 1 lime (roughly 2 tbsp)

Optional toppings: fresh herbs (basil, mint) or green onions

Method 

1. Preheat the oven to 425F. Prepare a cookie sheet with a silicone mat or line with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the batter ingredients until smooth - should look like a drippy/loose biscuit batter.

3. Add in your chopped cauliflower and toss to coat. Ensure you toss well - you want every little crevice of the cauliflower to be coated.

4. Place the coated cauliflower onto the prepared cookie sheet one at a time, in one layer, with plenty of space between each piece.

5. Bake for 45 minutes, until they get really dark and crispy. You can flip them over partway through to ensure both sides crisp up.

6. Meanwhile, prep the sauce. In a microwave-safe bowl add the honey and butter. Melt in the microwave. Add in the fish sauce, hot sauce and lime juice, whisking until well emulsified. Taste and adjust with salt and pepper!

7. When the cauliflower is done take it out of the oven and put them in a large heat-safe bowl. Pour over the sauce and toss the cauliflower until they are evenly coated.

8. Serve on a platter topped with any soft fresh herbs you have on hand (ex. Basil, mint) and sliced green onion.